“With such advantages,” says the Abbé Raynal, “the avarice as well as the ambition of the Portuguese might have been satisfied. They were masters of the coast of Guinea, Arabia, Persia, and the two peninsulas of India. They were possessed of the Moluccas, Ceylon, and the isles of Sunda, while their settlement at Macao insured to them the commerce of China and Japan. Throughout these immense regions, the will of the Portuguese was the supreme law. Earth and sea acknowledged their sovereignty. Their authority was so absolute, that things and persons were dependent upon them, and moved entirely by their directions. No native, nor private person dared to make voyages, or carry on trade, without obtaining their permission and passport. Those who had this liberty granted them, were prohibited trading in cinnamon, ginger, pepper, timber, and many other articles, of which the conquerors reserved to themselves the exclusive benefit. “In the midst of so much glory, wealth, and conquest, the Portuguese had not neglected that part of Africa which lies between the Cape of Good Hope and the Red Sea, and in all ages has been famed for the richness of its productions. The Arabians had been settled there for several ages; they had formed along the coast of Zanguebar several small independent states, abounding in mines of silver and gold. To possess themselves of this treasure was deemed by the Portuguese an indispensable duty. Agreeable to this principle, these Arabian merchants were attacked and subdued about the year 1508. Upon their ruin was established an empire extending from Sofala as far as Melinda, of which the island of Mozambique was made the centre. “These successes properly improved, might have formed a power so considerable that it could not have been shaken; but the vices and follies of some of their chiefs, the abuse of riches and power, the wantonness of victory, the distance of their own country, changed the character of the Portuguese. Religious zeal, which had added so much force and activity to their courage, now produced in them nothing but ferocity. They made no scruple of pillaging, cheating, and enslaving the idolaters. They supposed that the pope, in bestowing the kingdoms of Asia on the Portuguese monarchs, had not withholden the property of individuals from their subjects. Being absolute masters of the Eastern seas, they extorted a tribute from the ships of every country; they ravaged the coasts, insulted the princes, and became the terror and scourge of all nations. “The king of Sidor was carried off from his own palace, and murdered, with his children, whom he had entrusted to the care of the Portuguese. “At Ceylon, the people were not suffered to cultivate the earth, except for their new masters, who treated them with the greatest barbarity. “At Goa they established the inquisition, and whoever was rich became a prey to the ministers of that infamous tribunal.